House probe clears ex-DeLay staffers of sabotaging replacement

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, February 21, 2008

A congressional probe into whether aides of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay purposefully erased computer files of his temporary replacement has cleared the Republican staffers of alleged sabotage.

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs had no comment on the House findings, other than saying she has recovered most of the policy research she accused six aides of deleting before they abruptly quit on her in November 2006.

Sekula-Gibbs inherited the aides from DeLay upon him resigning his unexpired term, but the staffers walked out after just five days amid a clash that raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

House officials said computer security analysts found no traces of data being purposefully erased in the 22nd Congressional District office.

"It was determined that any lost data may have been inadvertent or the result of standard methodology employed when any member of Congress transitions to another," said Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the Office of the House Chief Administrative Officer.

Sekula-Gibbs, a Houston dermatologist and former city councilwoman, won the right to finish the final seven weeks of DeLay's term in a lame-duck Congress. The seat is now held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson.

After the staffers resigned en masse, Sekula-Gibbs said the walkouts were "suspicious" in that they took the time to delete files before leaving without notice.

The aides denied the allegations. One of them, David James, said at the time that "Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days."

Sekula-Gibbs is one of 10 candidates in the March 4 Republican primary vying for the right to run against Lampson for the House seat.